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This Thursday the IOS Network Summit 2021 Collision = Innovation was held. During her participation with the keynote address Challenges and opportunities for innovation on the way to digital transformation, Ángeles Acenzua, the Product Manager for digital transformation in IoT, spoke about the importance of digital innovation within companies. It seems that the pandemic paints a dark picture for this industry, but the truth is that very good things have emerged. The organizations that survived are those that knew how to adapt to the new situation and use technology to their advantage, he said.
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Innovation strategies can be viewed in different ways. For example, include digital collaboration platforms such as Webex and Teams, but it is important that they are not only available but that the people who participate within them feel heard. It is important to move forward over time, we have learned that it is important that people can access work from wherever they are or that there are hybrid workspaces.
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Not only is it important to accept advances, you have to understand them as well. Today we are all connected, on the Internet we can find information that we could never have imagined, including personal information about ourselves. This idea can be intimidating, but it is still something we must learn to use to our advantage. How does this data work for us? What do they tell us? What opportunities do they reveal? Information opens the world to us completely if we are willing to see it.
“Another very important issue is what will be the cost of integrating innovation and how are we going to have the return on investment. You cannot think of doing a topic of digital transformation or innovation if you do not put a return on investment metric: either you sell more, or you are faster, or you generate better experiences for your customers, or you make savings, but you have to do something about it. measure that return on investment. ”, Angeles explained during the conference.
All this transformation depends on several factors that exist within companies, the most important possibly being leadership. As a leader you must foster open communication channels, a culture that motivates people to express their ideas, create a space where minds of innovation are heard. In addition, it is essential to have the ability to see what is lacking in the staff you already work with. Not to make them less, or get them out of the company, but to see it as an area of opportunity and find a way to develop those skills. You also have to know how to recognize innovative people.
Characteristics of an innovative person
- Resilience
- Adaptability to change
- Ability to identify opportunities
- Detect the type of opportunities
- Knowing how to rise from failure
- Social and environmental responsibility
- Manage risks
This type of thinking should begin to be instilled from the university, so that when people come to work, they can imagine all the growth of an organization and make it happen. On the other hand, companies also have to educate themselves, by approaching entrepreneurs, for example, they will be able to get an idea of what innovative thinking looks like in action and how this ecosystem is at the moment. Innovation is one of its pillars to reach digital transformation, this requires a new culture and better professional development.
